


Riptide

by Anonymous



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, M/M, Magic Kisses, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-11-01 00:01:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10910148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Shiro saves a merman caught in a fishing net. Things go wrong from there.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> it's mermay have a shatt

The beach by the cove was usually empty. The beach on the bay proper was usually crowded, but the small cove was generally forgotten about, which made it perfect for Shiro. The high walls loomed dark and craggy against the overcast sky.   
  
Shiro walked along the pebbled shore, talking to himself idly. It was a much better place to walk and think than his small apartment.

The dark, huddled shape half in the water and half out of it snapped him out of his thoughts. He walked closer carefully, not sure what he would find. Something felt odd about it. His instincts told him to run.  
  
There was a boy caught in a fishing net, the strings digging into his flesh. A few of them had broken skin. The blood was shockingly red against his pale skin. His copper hair was tangled with strands of seaweed. His eyes were closed, and he wasn’t moving.   
  
Shiro broke into a run, pulling out his knife and kneeling by the boy’s side. He opened his eyes slightly when Shiro touched him, gaze flicking from Shiro’s chest to his face to his arm. His golden eyes widened when he saw the knife, and he tried to pull away.   
  
“It’s okay,” Shiro said, “It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.”  
  
The boy shook his head in mute terror.  
  
“I’m going to cut the net, alright? That’s all.”   
  
The boy shook his head again, eyes fixed on the knife. Shiro set the knife down and held up his empty hands.   
  
“Alright, no knife,” he said. “Dunno how I’ll get you untangled without it, but we’ll find a way.” Shiro wrapped his fingers around the net and started pulling. The boy’s skin was cold and clammy, but he shivered when Shiro’s prosthetic brushed his skin. “How did you even get yourself caught in this, anyway?”  
  
A string snapped, and Shiro tried to shake out the burning in his left hand. The boy grinned toothily. They were sharp and a little serrated. A shiver ran down Shiro’s spine.   
  
“Are you sure you don’t want me to use the knife? It would really help with,” he waved a hand at the net, “This.” An idea occurred to him. “Close your eyes for a second, okay?”  
  
The boy just shook his head, eyebrows furrowed.   
  
“Can you understand me at all?”  
  
He shook his head again, slowly.  
  
“Okay, okay. You have no idea what I’m saying, that’s great. Okay.” He took a steadying breath and pointed to the boy. “You.” He pointed to his eyes, closing them. “Close eyes.” He opened them again after a few seconds, hoping the boy understood. The boy’s eyes were still open. “Never mind, I guess.”  
  
He broke another string in the net. His fingers burned.   
  
The boy grinned again, this time clicking his teeth together a few times. He pushed his arms out, holding the net away from his body.   
  
“You…oh. You want me to use my teeth?” The boy didn’t respond. “Teeth,” Shiro repeated, tapping them.   
  
The boy nodded.   
  
“Okay,” he said, biting the net and pulling with his right hand. Strings snapped and a large hole formed. The boy squirmed a little and the net fell away from him. Shiro helped pull it off him, and the boy grabbed him by the back of his neck. Wet lips met his own, and Shiro froze for a moment before melting into it. One hand found the boy’s hips, pulling him closer, while the other tangled in his copper hair. They broke apart for a moment, Shiro trying to get air into his lungs. They weren’t working quite right.   
  
“Thank you,” the boy whispered and leapt past him in a smooth arc and disappeared into the water with a splash, and Shiro realized that he had a tail.   
  
A merman. He had just saved a merman. Nobody would ever believe him. He stared into the water, trying to process the sudden revelation that merfolk existed.   
  
Shiro didn't know how long he sat there, staring at the waves and trying to pin his racing thoughts together, but the tide was coming in when he forced himself to get up. His knees were stiff and ached when he moved. The gravel had left little pink impressions in his skin. He rubbed at the worst of it, trying to get the tiny rocks off of him.   
  
There was someone he needed to see. 

* * *

Matt’s lips were still tingling from the kiss as he dove deeper into the water. He hurt all over from the net, and he knew he was trailing blood behind him. Hopefully he wouldn’t run into any sharks looking for an easy meal.   
  
Not that Matt was particularly inclined to be an easy meal.   
  
It didn’t take long to reach the edge of the kingdom. He pressed himself against a rock and waited for the guards to swim past, and then he zipped past them and into the forest.   
  
His stomach growled. How long had it been since he had eaten? He had been chasing a school of fish when he had ended up in the net, and he had lain on the shore for what felt like hours, feeling his skin dry out. He plucked a few broad leaves from the kelp and nibbled on one. It wasn't the best-tasting thing, but it helped stave off the gnawing hunger. He swam and ate for a while, letting the kelp brush along his sides. After the burning air and the net, the slick leaves were a balm against his dried skin.   
  
He dove down and coaxed a few urchins off the stone, wrapping them in the kelp leaves for later, when he had his knife. He shuddered a little at the memory of looking up at a human holding a knife, even if the boy had dropped it quickly. That had been a disaster all around. He knew he wasn’t supposed to let humans see him, even though the human had helped him escape. Also, he was cute, which was definitely a plus in his mind, and good at kissing.   
  
Really good at kissing. He felt his face heat as he brought a hand to his lips, smiling a little. He needed to find that human again, and thank him properly.   
  
"There you are!" Katie shouted from above him. He rolled over and she dived down, grabbing him around the middle. He hissed a little as she jarred the cuts. "What happened to you, we've been worried sick!"  
  
"I got caught in a net, I'm fine."   
  
"You got caught in a _net?"_ she yelped.   
  
"I'm fine, really. Quit worrying." He rubbed his fist into her hair, making her squirm away from him.   
  
"I wasn't worried about you!" She looked offended at the proposition. "I just can't believe that after all the lectures you gave me about not getting caught, you got caught in a net."  
  
"Uh-huh," Matt said. "Definitely not worried."  
  
"Anyway, Mom's gonna kill you for disappearing like that. She'll probably pin your fins." Katie grabbed his wrist, tugging at him. "Ugh, come on, she's gonna kill both of us if we miss dinner."   
  
Matt let her lead him along, but he was still thinking about the human. He hadn’t quite expected for the kiss to go on for that long; he hadn’t expected him to kiss back. 

Mom wasn't as furious as Katie had predicted, but when she saw Matt she hugged him so tightly that he couldn’t breathe.   
  
"Mom," he croaked. "Let me go, please?” She did, and his gills flared as he tried to catch his breath.   
  
"Do you know how worried I was?” she said. “Anything could have happened to you! You could have died! You could have been seen!"   
  
Matt glanced away, remembering the boy and his soft lips. "I'm fine, Mom, honest. I just got caught in a net, I'm fine now."  
  
"You got caught in a _net?"_  
  
"Mom, really, I'm fine. I'm not even that badly hurt. Just a few cuts."  
  
"You're going too close to the surface, if you're getting caught in nets. And look at you! Go clean yourself up before dinner. Go on, flip your fins."  
  
Matt groaned as he swam up to his room. Mom always managed to make him feel like a teenager when she scolded him. He combed out his hair, pinning in the strands of pearls and gold that Mom insisted he wear and shrugged on his tunic.   
  
Katie was lurking in the doorway, smiling smugly. "What did I tell you?"  
  
"What do you want, Katie?"  
  
"Oh, nothing, I just think that you probably don't want Mom to know that you met a human today."  
  
"What? I didn't met a human."  
  
"Oh yes you did, I can tell. Anyway, unless you want Mom to find out, I suggest you be nice to me."  
  
He narrowed his eyes. "You don't have anything on me. She won't believe you. Especially since _nothing happened."_  
  
"If you say so," she said. "But when you get caught sneaking out to visit him, don't come crying to me."  
  
"When have I ever come crying to you, exactly?"  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, Katie, I'm never gonna love again, Nick left me!" she said in a falsetto. "He ripped out my heart and fed it to sharks!"  
  
"I don't sound like that!"  
  
"Sure you don't. Anyway, when you do try to sneak out to see him, I won't tell anyone where you are if you give me the urchin you got earlier."  
  
Matt glared and tossed it to her.   
  
"I knew it. Tell your boyfriend I said hi!" 

* * *

Haggar, who was called the witch only when she wasn't in earshot, lived in a small house on a cliff not far from Shiro's cove, in a small glade of trees. It was eerily silent; no birds sang and even the wind seemed quieter, somehow. His knock was jarringly loud, and was met with a yowl from inside. The door opened on its own.   
  
A string, Shiro told himself. She had a string tied to it, so that she can open it when someone knocks. She's not actually magic.  
  
It wasn't very reassuring.   
  
Haggar herself appeared a moment later, and she looked…exactly how a witch would be expected to. She was hunched over, and wore flowing black robes and a hooded cloak that hid most of her face. She held a cat in her arms. It might have been the lighting (please be the lighting) but her skin looked purple.   
  
"Um, hello? Are you Haggar?"  
  
"Why are you here," she snapped.  
  
"I met a merman? And I thought maybe you knew something about them, since—uh, since you live so close to the shore?"  
  
"Since I'm the village witch, you mean." She sighed. "Yes, I know about them. Tell me about the one you saw."  
  
"He was tangled up in a net, I helped get him free."  
  
"His eyes, boy. What color were his eyes?"  
  
Shiro would never forget those golden eyes. "Yellow."  
  
"And his hair?"  
  
"Uh, sort of an orange-brown? Why does it matter?"  
  
"Oh, no reason." Haggar gripped his chin tightly, tilting his face this way and that. "Good. Very good. You'll do nicely."  
  
Shiro stepped back, away from her grip. "For what?"  
  
"Nothing, nothing." She smiled. It didn't reach her eyes. "Now then, what do you want to know?"  
  
He just smiled as politely as he could manage. "Just wanted to make sure I wasn't hallucinating or something. Thanks." He took a step towards the door, but she was suddenly standing in front of him.  
  
"Oh, but I insist you tell me everything that happened."  
  
"I really should get going, it's getting late." Shiro tried to duck past her, but her hand closed around his arm.   
  
"He'll be back, you know. They don't like to leave a debt unpaid. Come visit me the next time you see him."  
  
"Right, yeah." He yanked his arm out of her grip and slipped out of her house and back into the too-quiet trees. He rubbed at the edge of his prosthetic as he walked home.   
  
He didn't bother getting undressed or making dinner, just took off his arm and flopped into bed.   
  
He dreamed of golden eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

Shiro went back down to the cove again the next day, remembering what Haggar had said. He wanted to see the merman again.  
  
The cove was empty, except for a large white shell perched on one of the dark stones. He toed out of his shoes and waded out to it, looking for any sign of the merman who left it. The shell was the size of his palm, and perfect; no chips or cracks, no signs of wear. It turned into a rainbow as it caught the light.  
  
"Thank you," he called, not sure if he was expecting an answer.  
  
He walked back to the shore, setting the shell by the toes of his shoes. He heard a splash and a giggle behind him, and he turned back to find nothing but ripples and the waves gently lapping against the rocks. He waded out again, looking down at the water. Sunlight flashed on gold, and he saw a flicking tail before getting saltwater splashed in his face.  
  
He took off his arm and left it on a rock before diving down. He could hear the boy giggling—it sounded a little like dolphin clicks—and saw small flashes of gold as he led Shiro around the cove. The boy dove under rocks, deep enough that Shiro worried about coming up for air again, and then swam up into a cave.  
  
Shiro surfaced with a grateful gulp of air, and found himself looking up at the boy, perched on some rocks. He looked better than he did yesterday; there were strings of pearls in his hair, instead of algae, and he wasn’t all cut up. Shiro could see his tail, too: dark gray on the back, and lighter gray in front. His tail was marked with white lines. It took a moment for Shiro to realize that they were scars.  
  
"You’re slow," he said.  
  
"Yeah, well. I’ve only got the one arm, and I don’t have fins."  
  
"Why’d you take your arm off, then?"  
  
"It’s heavy, and it shouldn’t get wet. Hang on, since when can you speak English?"  
  
"Since yesterday. I learned it from you."  
  
"Uh, what?"  
  
"When I kissed you." The boy was faintly pink. "I learned all the languages you know."  
  
"That’s—uh. Great?" Of course kisses wouldn’t mean the same thing to merpeople as they did to humans. What were you expecting, Shiro, he asked himself, a merman boyfriend? "My name’s Shiro, what’s your name?"  
  
"I’m Matt. I wanted to thank you, for yesterday." He slid off the rock and into the water silently, staring at Shiro, eyes honey-dark.  
  
"Don’t—don’t worry about it." Something about Matt’s eyes were distracting; he was having a hard time stringing thoughts together. "I mean, uh—thanks for the shell?"  
  
"Oh, that was just to get your attention." Matt reached out and grabbed Shiro’s shoulders, lips sealing around his. For a brief, fleeting moment, Shiro remembered how mermaids were said to drown sailors. Then one of Matt’s hands found its way into his hair, and that didn’t really matter so much. His eyes closed, and his arm pulled Matt closer to him, deepening the kiss.  
  
Shiro suddenly noticed the water rising around him. He opened his eyes. He could see clearly, even though the water should have made everything fuzzy, and the salt didn’t sting his eyes.  
  
Matt made a small noise that was halfway between a moan and a whimper, and Shiro’s feet scraped against rock. He shoved Matt off him and came up for air, gasping. Matt’s head broke the surface as well, water dripping from his hair.  
  
"What the hell?"  
  
"I just—"  
  
"Wanted to drown me?"  
  
"I would never!" Matt seemed offended at the idea.  
  
"Yeah, well, humans can’t breathe underwater, maybe you forgot that!"  
  
"I know that! I was just trying to—"  
  
"Forget it," Shiro snarled.  
  
"I’m sorry," Matt said weakly. Shiro dove down, and if he said anything after that it was lost in the bubbles.  
  
By the time he got back to the cove, his anger had mostly cooled. He put his arm and shoes back on, and picked up the shell Matt had given him. He wanted to throw the seashell back into the water, but something stopped him. He put it in his pocket, curling his fingers around it protectively.

* * *

Matt sat in the little cave for a while, waiting for Shiro to come back, and then dove out to the cove. Shiro was gone. He had taken the shell with him, though, so he didn’t hate Matt entirely. Or he just liked pretty things more than he was angry at Matt. Maybe he’d be back tomorrow, and Matt could leave him something else, as an apology. It would have to be something really pretty, though, even prettier than the shell.  
  
Matt swam back out into open ocean, casting one last look over his shoulder at the empty cove. The half-finished Mark hurt, like he had spent too long in air. He hadn't realized that they could hurt like that. Hopefully the pain would fade soon.

* * *

Shiro found himself walking through the too-quiet woods to Haggar’s house without totally realizing where his feet were taking him. He knocked twice on her door, and it swung open without a whisper.  
  
"I take it you saw your friend again," she crooned.  
  
"He’s not my friend." He shoved his hands deep into his pockets.  
  
"Tell me everything." She stroked his cheek, and he pulled away slightly.  
  
"He tried to drown me. He said he was thanking me."  
  
Haggar looked him up and down, and Shiro noticed with a start that her eyes were yellow, like Matt’s, but flat and dull. Her lips curled into a smile.  
  
"Oh, I don’t think you would have drowned." She pushed his shirtsleeve up, revealing his left shoulder. A mark shimmered on his skin, like silver under his skin. She traced the spiral design almost reverently. "Yes…" she breathed. "He Marked you." He could hear the capital letter.  
  
"Marked—what?"  
  
"He’s given you his protection," she said slowly, like she was talking to a child. "You'll be able to swim longer and faster and need less air. You must have left quite the impression on him. Though…this is only partial."  
  
"I shoved him off me," he said, feeling slightly guilty about that.  
  
"Next time," she hissed, "Don’t run away. I have plans for you." She seemed taller, somehow, looming over Shiro. It wasn’t often that he felt small.  
  
"What?"  
  
Something in the light flickered, and she was suddenly a old woman that didn’t quite come up to his shoulder again.  
  
"Don’t forget to get the full Mark," she said. "Don’t come back here until you do."

* * *

The next day, Shiro found a bag sitting on the rock where the shell had been. It felt like it was made out of seaweed, and it had a pearl in it: a large, perfectly round pearl. It was nearly the size of his fist.  
  
Cold hands wrapped around his ankle briefly and he saw Matt looking up at him from under the water. Shiro put the bag back on the rock and took off his arm, leading Matt out into deeper water. The water was barely knee-deep by the rock; it couldn't have been comfortable for Matt to be out there.  
  
Shiro perched on a small rock jutting out of the water, and Matt leaned on his arms next to him. His shoulders were freckled, Shiro realized.  
  
"About yesterday," Matt said. "I'm sorry I scared you."  
  
"I'm sorry too," Shiro said. Matt blinked at him. "I should have let you explain, instead of freaking out like that."  
  
"So…" Matt said, glancing at him. "What do we do now?"  
  
Shiro reached out and gently hooked some of Matt's hair behind his ear. "We could do what we were doing before I freaked out?"  
  
Matt's ears turned pink. "We could—yeah, we could do that."  
  
"Because, you know, I was enjoying that. Before I thought you were going to drown me." Shiro slid off the rock, treading water as he cupped Matt's cheek in his palm.  
  
"Oh. Yeah," Matt said, eyes fixed on Shiro's mouth. "Yeah, we could definitely—"  
  
"Matt," Shiro said, leaning in, "Shut up and kiss me."  
  
This time, when the water closed over his head, he didn't panic.

* * *

Matt grinned his way back home. His lips still tingled from the kiss. Shiro had melted into it, and Matt knew he was a bit slower than he usually was because of the Mark, but he didn't care.  
  
His eyes strained against the darkness, looking for the perfect gift for Shiro. Something shiny, he decided. He had liked the pearl and the shell. Maybe more pearls? Shiro didn't wear any jewelry, but maybe he did when Matt wasn't around. He had seen humans before, caught glimpses of them while hunting, and some of them had worn jewelry.  
  
Something caught his eye, something gleaming in the sand. He dove down, prying it out of the ocean floor. It was a human thing, round and gold, probably dropped from a ship. He tucked it into his bag and kept looking. Maybe he could find something else. He dug around in the sand, looking for anything more. He found a whole bunch of the round gold things, all heaped up and buried under the silt.  
  
The shadows shifted out of the corner of his eye, and Matt wished he had one of his knives. "Well, well, well," someone said. "A little princeling, out on his own."  
  
Matt whirled, baring his teeth. "Who's there?"  
  
He could hear someone laughing behind him. Something stung him, and pain erupted across his back. He might have screamed, he wasn't sure.  
  
A hand clenched in his hair, pulling him upwards. Everything started going dark, and the last thing he saw was flat yellow eyes, and a sharp grin.  
  
"Tell Samuel that Zarkon's coming for his trident."

* * *

Shiro wasn't worried.  
  
Matt was usually waiting for him in the cove, but there was no sign of him today. Maybe he just had something to do, he reasoned. Maybe he was just late, doing—something. He didn't really know what mermen did all day.  
  
He paced idly, turning the glass pendant in his pocket over and over in his hands.  
  
The dark water was nearly completely still, and he was almost tempted to dive down and find Matt.  
  
A head popped out of the water at the mouth of the cove, and for a minute he thought Matt had come back. Then he saw who it was as she came closer: a girl, a little smaller than Matt, with an olive colored tail. Shiro waded out to meet her.  
  
“Hello," he said hesitantly.  
  
“Matt’s in the hospital,” she said flatly. Shiro’s eyes widened. Fear crept like ice through his veins.  
  
“Is he okay?”  
  
“He’s woken up a few times since the border guards found him. He asked for you.”  
  
“What happened to him?”  
  
She scowled. “I heard the doctors telling Mom that someone poisoned him. That’s all I know. Nobody tells me anything.”  
  
Shiro’s heart skipped a beat. “I…Could you give this to him?” He held out the pendant to her. She inspected it, tracing her fingers over the flower trapped in glass, and finally nodded.  
  
“I’ll give it to him.”  
  
“Thank you.”  
  
“I’ll give him the necklace, but don’t start thinking that I like you.” She glared at him, and he couldn’t help but think that she’d look more threatening once she lost the baby fat that clung to her cheeks.  
  
“Got it.”  
  
“And if you ever do anything to hurt him, I will kill you.” She bared her teeth and vanished into the depths.  
  
“…Did I just get the shovel talk from a mermaid?” he asked the air.

* * *

Katie swam in anxious circles outside the door to Matt’s room. After what felt like hours, the doctors left and she zipped in.  
  
Matt was pale and limp in the bubble nest, tiny bits of foam clinging to his fingers. His eyes moved under his lids, and she wondered what he was dreaming about.  
  
“Matt?” she said softly. “I found your human, like you asked. He…he asked me to give this to you.” She put the necklace on him. The pendant floated up, and she tucked it down into his tunic.  
  
“Please wake up soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, challenge for the readers: what kind of dolphin is matt (and pidge)?
> 
> (belated edit: fixed the Ominous Dialogue)

**Author's Note:**

> matt is a weird mammal, for the record. he's got lungs and gills. in my defense, merfolk don't actually exist.


End file.
